THE FITT PRINCIPLE AND THE COMPONENTS
OF FITNESS
Learning Targets:
I can explain what the FITT principle is and what it stands
for
I can define each term in the FITT principle
I can name the 4 components of fitness and describe
what they are
I can use the FITT principle for cardiovascular endurance
WHAT IS THE FITT PRINCIPLE?
•The FITT Principle
helps us to plan our
exercise for maximum
benefit
What does it stand for?
• F = Frequency
• I = Intensity
• T = Time
• T = Type
FREQUENCY
• Frequency means how often should
I perform certain exercises
• Usually we think of Frequency in
how many days per week
• “HOW OFTEN”
INTENSITY
• Intensity means how hard we should work in
order to get the most benefit from exercise
• Sometimes intensity is hard for kids to
understand, the more you exercise the more
you will understand exercise intensity
• “HOW HARD”
TIME
• Time tells us how long we should exercise to
get the most benefit from the activity.
• Cardiovascular exercise takes a longer period
of time than do muscular exercises
• “How long”
TYPE
• Type means the kind of exercise that you are
doing.
• Different kinds of exercise promote different
COMPONENTS OF FITNESS
–Cardiorespiratory Endurance
–Muscular Strength and Endurance
–Flexibility
• “What kind”
4 components of health related fitness
• Cardiovascular Endurance
• AKA - aerobic or cardiorespiratory endurance
• Muscular Strength
• Muscular Endurance
• Flexibility
CARDIOVASCULAR ENDURANCE
• Also called Cardiorespiratory Endurance, it is the
most important component of fitness for your
overall health
• The ability of the heart and lungs to provide oxygen
to working muscles for long periods of time
• Cardiovascular exercise needs to last for at least 30
minutes
FITT PRINCIPLE FOR CARDIO
• Frequency: At least 3 days per week
• Intensity: 60% of your max heart rate
• Time: Minimum of 30 minutes
• Type: Any exercise that keeps your heart rate
up continuously.
Target Heart Rate
• There is a simple formula that tells you what your
maximum heart rate is
» 220 – your age = maximum beats per minute
• To find your target heart rate for cardiovascular
exercise here is the formula
» Maximum heart rate x 0.6
Calculate your target heart rate
• What heart rate do you need to maintain to
improve your cardiovascular fitness?
MUSCULAR STRENGTH
• The amount of force a muscle can exert in one
maximum effort
• We tested your muscular strength with the 40 yard
dash and the standing long jump
MUSCULAR ENDURANCE
• Muscular Endurance is the ability of a muscle or muscle
group to do an activity repeatedly – a motion over and over
until the muscles become exhausted.
• We use push ups to determine the muscular endurance of
your upper body
• We used curl ups and planks to determine the muscular
endurance of your abdominal muscles
• We measured lower body endurance with a wall sit. The
mile run also measures muscular endurance as well as
cardiovascular endurance.
FITT for Strength
• F – 2-3 days weekly
• I – 3 sets of 8-10 STRENUOUS repetitions of
strength exercises (It should be hard!)
• T – there is no time requirement for strength
• T - Exercises that involve weight, sprinting, and
jumping will develop muscular strength
FITT for Endurance
• F – 2-3 days weekly
• I – Perform exercises until failure, or in
repetitions of 15 or more (It should burn!)
• T – there is no time requirement for muscle
endurance
• T- Body weight exercises, light weights
FLEXIBILITY
• The ability of a joint and muscles to move
through their entire intended range of motion
• Flexibility is important for injury prevention
• Being flexible also helps your muscles to recover
from exercise quickly
• Having a full range of motion improves
performance in other areas of fitness
FITT PRINCIPLE FOR FLEXIBILITY
• F: At least 3 days per week stretching all the
major muscles and joints of the body
• I: Stretch to slight muscular discomfort, but not to
pain
• T: Each stretch should be held for at least 10
seconds or for multiple repetitions
• T: You can static stretch or ballistic stretch, each is
a little different